The Reluctant Prince

Chapter 26

Jet
lay on his stomach, the book King Roy had given him propped up in front of
him. His back and shoulders were bare. Fingers of fire danced across his back.

Doll
paused in her massage and leaned over.
“Let me see.” She peered over his
shoulder. “That might be true if we were
Elementals,” she said, frowning as she muddled through the odd phrasing: “’Substance
is but a seeming. What appears solid is
in truth myriad tiny motes. What is
between those motes is our realm.
Substance is no barrier.’ What
does that mean?”

Grinning,
Jet rolled over, nearly knocking Doll off.
He gripped her elbows when, embarrassed, she would have moved so she
wasn’t sitting quite where she ended
up. “You know what it means,” he said,
letting his body melt into a flame which burned brightly but did not scorch the
bedclothes because Jet didn’t want it to.
Doll’s hands, still covered in her own bright flame, sank into what should
have been Jet’s chest. His flames
reached out to surround her and draw her down into them, and for a moment, Jet
felt the core of her, pure flame to match his own.

But
too soon, Doll pulled away and Jet let her, moving through so that Doll lay on
her stomach on his bed and he straddled her, once more in human form. He rubbed her shoulders with nothing more
than his actual hands. “See?” he
whispered, leaning close to her ear.
“Substance is no barrier.”

Doll
had, if only for an instant. He saw it
in her face, in the combined fear and wonder she wore there. Before fear could win out, he kissed her. “But this is nice, too. Substance definitely has its advantages.”

As
always, when kissing progressed to a point where Jet would have liked to
follow, Doll backed away. “Not now,” she
murmured as they lay as close as two bodies of substance could be with only a
thin layer of clothes between them—hers—Jet was still naked from the waist up. “I’d better get back to school. It’s late.”

Sighing,
Jet let her up and put King Roy’s book back on the shadow shelf above his
bed. He had gone to see Doll directly
after leaving the King’s compound and his prisoner-charges, mostly to make sure
she was still all right and that Merrell had brought her home as he had
said. Jet had not taken no for an
answer and insisted that Doll accompany him back to Arden. After the day they had both had, she
agreed. How they ended up in Jet’s bed
was still unclear to either one of them.
It had started out with reading.
Jet showed Doll his books. She’d
raised her eyebrow at “Little Lost Star” but it had relaxed her enough to
remain in his bedroom. Jet had lain
beside her, watching her read. He wasn’t
sure whose idea the massage was, but it had been his idea to have Doll use her
fire, which had necessitated removing his shirt. It had been good while it lasted. “I’ll take you home,” he said.

The
cousins generally did not lock their doors.
Jet didn’t either, since he had nothing of value in the outer room. But he always locked his bedroom door. Doll opened it now to give Jet time to get
dressed and ran smack into Macek, whose hand was poised to knock. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize . . .” Macek glanced beyond Doll, flustered to see
her where she wasn’t supposed to be. Jet
let him draw his own conclusions and didn’t bother explaining. “Jet, I need to talk to you.”

“When
did you get back?” Jet pulled on his
shirt and buttoned it.

“Just
now. Jet, what did you do to my
class? Tommy says he merged with you and
now he knows he has fire inside him. He
said they all did it.”

Doll
smiled another little smile and walked past Macek to sit on the sofa by the
window.

“Don’t
you believe him?” Jet asked in a soft voice.
“I could show you.”

Macek
closed the outer door, where Tommy and a few of the other kids from the morning
class had started to gather. “You were
supposed to keep it simple. What did you
do to them? Tommy’s talking as if you
can walk right through them.”

“’Substance
is but a seeming,’” Doll quoted from her place on the couch. Jet grinned at her.

“Is
this really what you want to talk about after everything that’s happened?” Jet
asked. “I assume you watched the
news. You saw what happened at the
King’s compound. Did you speak to your
father yet?”

“No,
I told you, I only just got back. I saw
the attacks, yes, but I knew the Enforcer would handle it. Those flying things—they weren’t really part
of the entertainment, were they? The
people are saying they’re real, that flying machines are real. They’re not buying the Enforcer’s story. That’s the reason I came back. My father is still at the compound; I thought
you were still at the compound with the other royal children too until I saw
your light on. Does the Enforcer know
you’re here?”

Jet
shrugged. “I’m going back after I bring
Doll home. There’s a lot you don’t
know. Want to come with us and talk to
your father yourself? The flying things
were real. And we caught two of the
operators.”

Doll
gasped. She hadn’t known.

Macek
nodded. “I’ll call my car,” he
said. “We’ll drop off your friend and
then continue on to the King’s mansion.
They’ll recognize the car and let us in.”

Doll
spoke up. “I want to go with you,” she said.

“No,”
Macek replied before Jet had a chance to say anything. “Only the royal Family or its enforcers are
allowed in the King’s compound.”

“Too
late,” Jet said happily. “She’s already
been there. Doll is with me. She stays.”

Doll
clasped Jet’s arm as he followed Macek down to the car. Lorra watched silently from her doorway.

“What
was all that about?” Macek muttered.

Jet
explained what he had been doing with Macek’s morning class while he was gone. Macek flatly refused to believe it, which
made Doll laugh softly. It was too late
now. Jet had shown King Roy, he had even
shown the two prisoners what he could do.
Now that he’d looked at the book King Roy had given him, Jet saw no
reason to hide any longer. Macek was
skeptical about the book, too. “How do
you know it’s true?” he demanded, dismissing the fact that the King had
discovered it in his hidden library.
“Why, if we were originally Elementals, would we need to have a written
record of it at all?”

Doll
looked at him wryly. “Because by then
the Family had already begun to forget their origins?” she hazarded, although
when Jet had told her about the book, she had expressed many of the same
doubts. Are you sure it’s not just a fairy tale, like Little Lost Star? She
had asked skeptically. But Jet himself
was a powerful reminder that there might, after all, be some truth to the old
tales.

“I’d
like to see the book,”Macek said.
“That’s what I do—study old records and try to sift truth from
fancy. I’m surprised Uncle Roy never
showed me that one.”

Jet
was not surprised. The King had not
wanted his brother the Enforcer to have that knowledge. It was ironic that, when Merrell found out
about Jet, he didn’t want Jet to tell the King, either. Was it really overprotectiveness, or
completely different agendas?

“You
know, she shouldn’t be with you,” Macek said again as the car pulled into the
gates that had been hidden until Macek showed his identification.

“Doll’s
not leaving,” Jet said irritably, and Macek subsided. Jet pulled Doll closer and whispered in her
ear. “Until this is over, stay with
me.” Doll nodded, and Jet settled back
in his seat.

Merrell
met them at the front entrance, frowning when he saw Doll, but he addressed his
son. “Were you successful?”

Macek,
taken aback, replied. “I broke off my
search as soon as I saw the broadcast about the attack. I thought you might need me.”

Tight-lipped,
Merrell beckoned them inside. What
search? Jet wondered. Macek had just
told them he went all over Attania in search of old records. Was that what he had been doing? What old records could be more important than
what had happened to the King’s compound?

“Jet
said there were prisoners,” Macek said as they sat in the same small room where
he had held Doll earlier in the day.
“What happened, father?”

Merrell
looked at Jet and Doll, and the look clearly said, what are you two doing here?
Jet didn’t budge, however, and after a moment, Merrell began
talking. “The prisoners are being
uncooperative. We’ve let Jet have a try
at convincing them, but that didn’t work so well.” He pinned Jet with a cool stare. “I’ll deal with them myself tomorrow.”

“I
found evidence of a settlement!” Macek blurted, diverting Merrell’s and Jet’s
attention back to him. “In the East,
where the blast was. The edges were
still dark and dead, but there were roads leading to the center of the
blast. I would have gone in further,
but I heard what happened. We can go
back, check it out. If any of the rebels
have built a base there, it would have to be underground. Nothing lives on the surface.” Macek spoke quickly, trying to get it all out
before his father cut him off.

“Do
you know what these attackers called themselves?” Merrell asked softly. “Sons of Men.”

“Sons
of Men!” Macek repeated eagerly. “I want—I need to talk to these
prisoners! Let me see them before you
dispose of them. They may know something
about the places I’ve been researching if they use that term for themselves.”

Merrell
glanced appraisingly at Jet before returning his gaze to his son. “Very well,” he murmured. “I’ll give Jet his week. You can speak to the prisoners during that
time.”

“And
the flying machines?” Macek tried not to
sound too eager. “May I view those as
well? I may be able to piece together
how they got their information if I could examine them.”

“I’m
afraid that’s impossible,” Macek said.
“I gave Daniel orders to destroy both machines earlier this
evening. If you have any questions on
their construction, talk to Daniel.”

“What!” Jet and Macek chorused. “Why did you do that?” Jet asked. “We could have learned how they work!”

“Why?”
Merrell asked harshly. “We don’t need
machines to fly. They were
unnecessary. It was better that we
destroyed them immediately.”

Better
for who? Jet thought angrily. Better for
the Family who wanted, no needed to
stay in power. Not all Family could use
air or clouds. Not anymore. “Come on,
Doll,” he said, abruptly standing up. He
realized now how tenuous his authority over his two prisoners was. It could be taken away from him at any
time. And now he had to share them with
Macek.

“Wait!”

Gritting
his teeth, Jet stopped in the hallway as Macek raced after them. He had at least wanted a few minutes alone
with Reg and Ricky to prepare them for the inevitable. “What?” he growled.

“Show
me what you meant in the car. What you
showed Tommy and the others.” Macek
glanced at Doll, and realized she must have experienced it too. “You know, the thing about substance.”

“Why?” Jet narrowed his eyes.

“I need
to know,” Macek said. He glanced back at
the room where his father had remained, their talk unfinished.

Jet
let his hands go to flame, never letting go of Doll’s hand in the process. She was fire; she wasn’t alarmed. With his other hand, Jet reached out towards
Macek’s chest. Macek took a sharp
breath, but he didn’t move. Jet’s hand
touched his chest and passed through it.
Macek shivered, his eyes never leaving Jet’s face. Slowly, Jet withdrew his hand, turned and
started walking down the long corridor with Doll.

“Jet!” Macek called after him. “I really would like to see that book.” He turned and went back into the room where
Merrell awaited him.

Jet
laughed hollowly and let the flames on his hands fade. “Sure,” he said, although Macek was no longer
there to hear it. Doll squeezed his
hand.

He
un-did the shadow locks he himself had put on the prison door and opened it for
Doll. “Wake up, boys!” he called out
cheerfully, lighting up the floor of the prison to about ankle-depth. That got their attention, as Jet knew it
would. “We’ve got problems,” he said as
the two non-family prisoners blinked against the glare.

Reg
stared at Doll. “Who’s she?” he asked in
a trembling voice. Jet didn’t think the
sight of Doll had caused it. He glanced
at Ricky, up to now the defiant one, and the kid was pressed against the back
wall of his cot, his mouth open in a prelude to a scream.

“Don’t,”
Jet said, looking right at him. “There’s
no time. This is Doll. She’s my girlfriend. She’s not going to hurt you. Neither one of us is going to hurt you,” he
said in exasperation as Ricky pulled farther away. “But there’s another Family who’s coming, who
is going to ask you a bunch of questions.
His name is Macek Merrell.” Jet
saw Reg’s eyes widen. “Yes, that’s
right. The Enforcer’s son. You need to answer his questions. I don’t really care if you tell him the truth
or not, but please answer him. If you
do, you get to live a few days longer.
If not,” Jet threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat. “There’s nothing else I can do. You’ll be killed.”

“We’re
going to be killed anyway,” Reg said, his voice steadying as he looked at Doll
rather than Jet. “I’d just as soon get
it over with.”

“Maybe
not,” Jet replied. “I can’t make any
promises, but if you can hold on for a few more days, maybe I can do something
about that.”

“Like
what?” Ricky sneered, although his voice quavered when he said it. “What can you do?”

Jet
let himself go incorporeal and buffeted the room in a torrent of wind. This time Ricky did scream out loud.

Doll
had managed to sit at the edge of Reg’s small cot and was speaking to him
slowly and quietly, as if he were a small child or a wild animal. Amazingly, it was working. Reg was answering her. Nothing consequential. Nothing much at all. But he was talking. Jet was suddenly glad Doll had asked to come
along.

That
left Ricky for Jet. He sat down on the
floor near Ricky’s cot. “Oh, come
on. It’s not as if you didn’t believe I
could do it,” Jet coaxed in the only way he knew how. “You’re the ones who think we’re all
Elementals. Well, I’ve got a secret for
you too. As far as I know, you’re wrong. The Family are not Elementals any more. But I’m pretty sure I am.” He grinned.
“Now, wouldn’t you like to live long enough to deliver that bit of news
to your Sons of Men?”

Gradually,
even Ricky relaxed. He admitted he
hadn’t truly believed, any more than King Roy or Merrell had until they were
shown the truth. The truth was very
sobering. On the one hand, Jet wasn’t human, or not completely so. On the other hand, he was very much a person,
and so was Doll.

It
was a start on what Jet had hoped to accomplish. He had no idea if he was even being truthful
when he said he would try to find a way so that the two non-family would not
have to die. He hoped so, but at the
moment he had no idea how to go about it.
By the time Macek came down to meet the prisoners, they were both calmer
and used to speaking with Family.

“Where
are you from?” Macek asked, point-blank.

“Ballind,”
Reg said promptly, naming a town about a hundred miles to the north of
Darcy. Jet was pretty sure it was a
lie. In fact, he hoped it was, because
Merrell would be sure to destroy that town utterly if it were true. He might do it even if it were not true.

Jet
sighed. He really didn’t want to
know. He left Macek to his questioning
and went to find a place where he and Doll could get some sleep. “I’ll be good,” he promised her, kissing the
tip of her nose. “But I’m not letting
you out of my sight.”

There
were lots of empty rooms in the King’s mansion.
Jet picked one with a big bed and an adjoining bathroom, and lay down
while Doll washed. “I’m too tired to be
anything but good,” he grumbled,
closing his eyes. He felt the bed shift
slightly when Doll climbed in the other side.

Things
were coming to a head, and he wasn’t sure where it would all lead, but at least
one thing today had gone right. Smiling,
without opening his eyes, his hand crept across the blanket and found Doll’s. Finally, he could go to sleep.

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